I officially declare it music festival season! This weekend NRG Park in Houston will be flooded with music fans hoping to see their favorite bands, learn some new music and start the summer off right at Free Press Summer Fest.

And once again, I’ll be happily siting on the social media sidelines as a spectator. Sorry, Houston. You’re just too damn hot and muggy for me to survive a music festival here.

But over the years I’ve been to my fair share of music festivals and whether it’s going to Austin City Limits, Center of the Universe or a small, local festival, I always learn something new about how to make the experience the best it can be.

Want to make sure your music festival experience is the best it can be this summer?

Here are my 7 tips for music festival survival:

1. Pack a snack

And a healthy one at that. I grew up a Girl Scout, so trail mixes are a default snack in my world. My favorite standby is tossing together roasted unsalted almonds, dried cranberries and a handful of M&M’s. I call it Good Groupie Fuel – a little bit of protein and sugar combined with constantly drinking water has the ability to keep me going (and headache free!) at music festivals. Here’s 5 ways you can eat smarter at music festivals.

2. Take it easy on the beauty products

Despite growing up in Texas, I don’t do well in the heat. At all. I never realize I can sweat so much until I’m standing out in the blazing sun, waiting for a band to play. And hey, I love my charcoal eyeliner as much as the next girl, but I’d rather it not be on my cheeks after an hour of festival fun. Make up just isn’t worth it in this environment. That said, I have a few must-have items I always make sure are tucked away in my festival bag – sunscreen, mint lip gloss and baby wipes to name a few. See my 6 fave items for a festival beauty bag.

3. Go in with a game plan

I’m the super nerd who comes to festivals like SXSW, armed with pages and pages of highlighted shows I want to see. A little planning goes a very long way in making sure you actually see who you want to see. How do you do that? Using these 5 tips for making the most of your festival experience.

4. Dress appropriately

And I don’t mean be a granny and cover yourself up – I mean, dress for the environment. It’s hot, you’re in the sun and if your festival is on park grounds you’re bound to get dirty. Music festivals are not the place for cute shoes and dresses you will surely ruin. I love these 5 tips Nikki Dee shared on The Good Groupie last summer.

7. Enjoy the music

Remember: the reason you bought your festival ticket was to have fun seeing live music with your friends. Don’t let the crowds, food prices, hot weather or anything else get you down (too much). Enjoy yourself and make the most of your experience.

What’s your best music festival survival tip?

Share it in the comments – or feel free to elaborate on one of my points! Don’t forget to stop by and read Danielle’s killer tips, written fresh off her trip to the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis.

Awesome! I’d love to do Summer Fest one of these years. I have family in Wisconsin, which makes it very do-able for me! Appleton’s Mile of Music and Rhinelander’s Hodag Festival always sound like fun too.

Actually, I would say that my favourite tip is to just relax. If you’re in a groove, ride it out, rather than try to be everywhere and do everything at once. I’ve often dashed between stages trying to see everything, and it turns out that the stage I was originally enjoying would have a moment that I’d missed.

Less of a tip, more of a thing I enjoy doing, is walking around the festival grounds, away from the music. Gives you a chance to recharge and people watch. (I’m usually at single stage festivals, so if I don’t dig the band, a good wander is a lovely alternative).

The camping festivals I get to wander around are the best, I’ve seen great things, like elevated couches with slides to get down, croquet courts with pink flamingoes and picket fences, giant board games like Connect Four, secret tequila bars… we have a tiki bar usually, complete with an Elvis shrine.